Senior Staff Quality Engineer, Battery Cell Quality

Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles we build, and the curious, courageous souls we seek to attract.  As a company, we constantly challenge what’s possible, never simply accepting what has always been done. We reframe old problems, seek new solutions and operate comfortably in areas that are unknown. Our backgrounds are diverse, but our team shares a love of the outdoors and a desire to protect it for future generations.  ROLE SUMMARY This role is a for a Senior Staff Quality Engineer that has experience working with engineering to design robust cells and packs to meet quality requirements and then collaborating with suppliers and manufacturing to launch these products, achieving customer satisfaction goals. This opening is located at our Irvine, CA facility and will directly report to the Director of Propulsion Quality. RESPONSIBILITES Provide battery cell quality technical leadership across the enterprise: Quality expert in cell technologies and design of various battery configurations and chemistries, including cylindrical, prismatic, Li-Ion, LiFePO4 from R&D through production. Oversee design quality and manufacturing quality of battery cells Participate in Design for Manufacturability reviews and provide feedback from known industry and internal lessons to support continuous improvement Support development and validation of cell testing strategy for production verification and long-term reliability Develop cell quality standards from component/material level through manufacturing processes Drive design sensitivity to manufacturing processes Collaborate with other cross functional team members to support both project and internal R&D efforts Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) Execution: Ensure product and process designs deliver high capability using DFMEA, DVP, PFMEA in conjunction with Reliability Drive Prediction, Prevention, and Protection of quality issues and risk mitigation solutions Establish cell quality objectives and contribute to engineering design specifications to deliver product quality Determine, track, and deliver key KPI’s to achieve quality targets and goals Lead advanced causal analysis and problem-solving response to cell quality issues impacting production Review cell defects conducting component level analysis identifying material and process issues Author technical presentations to leadership summarizing high risk issues and proposed mitigation plans Establish internal process flows for incoming inspection and reaction plans for nonconforming material Participate in product launch initiatives and development gated processes to meet timing and quality milestones Mentor cell quality engineers to advance their learnings of cell technologies and quality considerations Provide battery cell quality technical leadership externally to support suppliers: Support quality technical requirements flow through to suppliers and integrators Collaborate with cell suppliers and battery pack assembly integrators to develop full lifecycle quality planning Plan and conduct supplier process and product audits in collaboration with Supplier Quality and 3 rd party Validate suppliers capabilities to deliver and drive improvement actions on behalf of Rivian product quality Collaborate with suppliers to solve technically complex problems affecting cell quality Periodically embed with suppliers onsite to support product & process quality continuous improvement QUALIFICATIONS BS/MS degree in Materials Engineering or equivalent engineering discipline Minimum of 9 years engineering and/or quality experience including: Cell design, manufacturing, testing, quality planning, and supplier technical engagement Extensive knowledge of lithium-ion battery engineering including material selection and issue resolution Basic CAD knowledge, including ability to review designs within CATIA Expert level problem-solving skillset including use of design of experiments, root cause analysis, and statistics Experience transitioning R&D products transition to production Knowledge of AIAG, APQP and related tools Must be able to travel domestic and international up to 20% Salary Range for California Based Applicants : $144,000 - $166,000 (actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law). Benefits Summary:  Rivian provides robust medical/Rx, dental and vision insurance packages for full-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26. Coverage is effective on the first day of employment, and Rivian covers most of the premiums.    Equal Opportunity Rivian is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law. Rivian is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at  candidateaccommodations@rivian.com . Candidate Data Privacy Rivian may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Rivian may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.   Rivian may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our People Team, Finance, Legal, and the team(s) with the position(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Rivian affiliates; and (iii) Rivian’s service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.   Rivian may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of such jurisdictions.      Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.